Casey O'Farrell has enjoyed performing in old-fashioned Broadway shows on the order of "Chicago," but he has seen "American Idiot" connect in a big way with nontraditional theatergoing audiences as he's toured in the Green Day musical.

The tale of three young men whose friendship is tested by war and the challenges of moving into adulthood in economically strapped Middle America, speaks to people who might not be able to relate to a Rodgers and Hammerstein classic.

"It's so real. I think it is probably the `Rent' of this generation," O'Farrell said in a phone interview last week as he headed to a theater in Elmira, N.Y.

"Both of the shows are about what (ordinary young people) go through. They're not typical musical theater-type shows," he said.

The "American Idiot" tour will be making a one-night stop at the Palace Theater in Waterbury on Saturday, Feb. 15.

"Michael Mayer likes to tackle angsty, real-issue projects," O'Farrell said of the director who also staged "Spring Awakening."

"I think some part of the show's success is that people can relate it to their own lives ... which is very exciting."

Mayer constructed the book of the show with Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong, using the songs from the Green Day concept album "American Idiot" as well as music from other albums.

O'Farrell has been with the "American Idiot" tour for almost two years, including legs in Asia and the United Kingdom. He said many of the performers are not standard-issue Broadway types.

"They're not the Broadway monsters ... ripped-up dudes and gorgeous (women). It's a more real-looking company with (a wider) ethnicity," the actor said.

Adding to the challenge of playing such a dramatic, high-energy piece of material has been a winter touring schedule in the Northeast with lots of one- and two-night stands.

"Today we got caught in the snow storm and had to travel 250 miles, so I just have time for a bite and then to head to the theater," he said of the Elmira performance on the day we talked.

Even when he is feeling exhausted from all of the traveling, however, the power of the music and the story will lift O'Farrell.

"The show is not structured to be the same every time. There are set acting pieces, but there are also many moments when you have room to go with the flow," he said.

The cast has been pleased to see this piece of contemporary American life connect with audiences in Japan, Korea, Scotland and Ireland, as well as those all over the United States. Like "Rent," it deals with a specific time and place, but the rock music gives it a universal appeal.

"Some of the audiences in other countries have responded more to the show than some places here," he said.

"The only real difference was in Asia, where they are so polite that they don't applaud after each song. (The tour producers) talked to us about that before we got there, so we knew what to expect.